Chapter 386 Why Not
At the moment these words were spoken, except for Qiao Yan, who had already received Liu Xie's decision, everyone else almost thought they were hallucinating.
What does it mean to entrust the imperial seal to the Grand Marshal?
There was no one present who could not see the hidden meaning in Liu Xie's tone and expression.
If Liu Xie just felt that he had a wound on his face and had been a puppet held hostage by Dong Zhuo, even if Liu Yu was really powerless to govern the world, he should not be the successor. Therefore, the imperial seal as a token of the emperor should be kept by the regent Qiao Yan. He would never say such things.
At most, the imperial seal would be returned to Liu Yu first. If Liu Yu wanted to choose a new successor after abdicating, Liu Xie, who could have ascended the throne, would serve as a witness and keep the seal in Qiao Yan's hands first.
But now...
Liu Xie's words at this moment clearly meant that he wanted to entrust the Han Dynasty to the imperial seal and hand it over to Qiao Yan's hands!
He disappeared for several years, but suddenly made such a shocking statement in the court. If the jade seal in front of them was not authentic, and Liu Xie's identity had not been confirmed by Huang Wan, Yang Zan, Yang Xiu and others, they would not have seen any sign of coercion or bribery in Liu Xie's expression. Even Qiao Yan's eyes were filled with surprise. They almost thought that this was a drama jointly performed by Qiao Yan and Liu Xie to respond to and retaliate against the previous assassination attempt in the inner palace.
But this is obviously not revenge.
If it was just a tentative threat, even the most arrogant and domineering relative of the emperor at that time would not have elevated himself to the position of emperor, because such a move would undoubtedly lead to disaster.
There is no way Qiao Yan didn't understand this truth.
When Liu Yu had already executed Liu Yang and issued a self-criticism edict to himself, Qiao Yan returned to Chang'an from Huayin and accepted this opportunity to go down the slope, and he and Liu Yu returned to a state of harmony between the monarch and his subjects.
There was no need for her to take such an extra action, which put herself in the spotlight!
Sure enough, the next moment everyone present heard Liu Yu ask Liu Xie: "Why did Lord Dong say that?"
Due to his illness and exhaustion, Liu Yu was unable to make any loud noise, but when this sentence came out of the emperor's mouth, the questioning meaning was still clearly conveyed.
Liu Xie should have been the candidate for the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Even if he was not, he was still a member of the Liu clan. Why did he make such remarks without any warning!
The founding of the Han Dynasty and the restoration of Emperor Guangwu two hundred years ago were extremely difficult. Even if the imperial seal was passed down from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, it itself has the meaning of inheritance. He could not say such a thing without considering the face and dignity of the Han Dynasty.
Waiting and watching for a long time?
Waiting and watching for ten or twenty years is not a reason for him to say such irresponsible words.
But facing Liu Yu's gaze from such a close distance, and the gazes from all around him, Liu Xie just felt the weight of the jade seal in his hand, without any confusion or hesitation, and replied: "Why would there be such words——"
"Have you ever seen the world from the perspective of an ordinary citizen?"
Among the people present, the number who could answer "yes" to this question could probably be counted on one hand.
If Qin Yu, who was transferred to Luoyang by Qiao Yan to assist with farming, was still here, there might be one more person, but at this time it was only the Minister of Agriculture Cheng Yu and his subordinate official Tian Chou and others.
Even with the selection of talented people by the Hongwen Academy, and the enlightenment efforts of Qiao Yan through the Leping Monthly and printed books, the vast majority of those who can achieve academic success in this world today are still children of aristocratic backgrounds.
It is really not easy for these people to look at the world from the perspective of ordinary people.
The daily expenses of "ordinary people" alone are enough to make most of them give up.
"I've seen it." Liu Xie said this word by word, without giving anyone a chance to interrupt.
What he was wearing was not the brocade and silk clothes he wore as a prince or emperor in the past, but an ordinary cloth. At most, it was because Qiao Yan was selling cotton-padded jackets at a low price in Luoyang, and it was still cold at that time, so Liu Xie had a cotton-padded jacket among his cloth clothes.
This made him seem extremely sincere and open when he said the three words "I have seen it" at this moment.
He also continued speaking.
He had seen it, and had even experienced it himself as a woodcutter or fisherman, as the most ordinary person in Yizhou and as the most insignificant one of the people going to Luoyang.
Even if he was not the most miserable one among the thousands of people, when he stood in the court as such a "veteran", facing those ministers in Chang'an City who only received salaries, he had the confidence to argue with reason.
"I used to think that my meal was great if I could put an extra egg in a bowl of porridge. I could have meat to fill my stomach and have more energy to work. But more often than not, corn was the only thing that filled my stomach, and at most I would add some wild vegetables and fruits from the mountains."
"We can't use the firewood we get from logging as much as we want. We have to use it carefully to exchange for money and food at the market, and also use it to exchange for the medicinal herbs we dry in the sun to cover our expenses for the next few days."
"What is the price of a dan of rice, how much money is needed for a single piece of clothing, how long does it take to save up for an axe and a hoe before you can set aside a portion of your emergency property to buy them, all of which need to be carefully calculated and arranged."
"In your eyes, more grain from the land means more taxes, which means you have enough food to go around during the war. You count the grains accumulating in the warehouse, but all you see is an increase in numbers. You should build another warehouse, but what I see is—"
"When the price of rice drops as the yield per mu increases, the overjoyed people can carefully wrap up an extra foot of cloth, patch their clothes to make them less leaky, or make their children's clothes more fitted. Then they can put less water in the porridge, so that the porridge they eat is more than just soup."
"Who turned the yield per mu from three shi into seven or nine shi today?"
It was Grand Marshal Qiao Yan.
Liu Xie continued speaking. Perhaps this string of words was not something he had rehearsed countless times in his mind, which was why he spoke them so smoothly. It was simply because these words came from his feelings and were written from his heart, which led to such an effect.
"In your eyes, the population loss avoided during the war between the two armies, the relief measures during the drought and locust plague, all brought about the same increase or decrease in the population in the household registration, so as to avoid a shortage of candidates to fill the gaps in the next attack and garrison. But what I saw clearly were living people who found a chance to survive when they should have been buried, familiar faces among neighbors who could still say hello the next day, and even family members who could continue to support each other."
"Who helped us get through these natural disasters and human hardships?"
It was Grand Marshal Qiao Yan.
"In your opinion, the people only need to consider daily food and clothing, with loess below and scorching sun behind them, like a mediocre ant, following the numbness of a chess piece, ending the trajectory from birth to death. But I clearly see that even in the secluded mountains of Hanzhong, when the door to the outside world is opened to these farmers and woodcutters, they can also have the ambition to look up at the world and compete for the dragon gate. This will not make them stop working and just want to go out to a place where they can reach the sky in one step, but double their efforts and accumulation, just to one day be able to grab the rope to climb up!"
"This awakening of the people's wisdom is by no means a burden to the dynasty. Rather, it is a sign that one in ten people will be able to be used, and the world will no longer lack wise men to work with."
“Who is building this possibility step by step?”
Still the Grand Marshal.
"Luoyang was hit by a major epidemic last year, but rumors spread everywhere and the people did not change their minds. When the war came, the people shared a common hatred of the enemy. I saw this with my own eyes and it is not false. You may have seen that Luoyang is returning to its former population of one million and can serve as an excellent transit point for the front line. But what I saw was that when Yuan Benchu led his troops to attack, in the villages in the northern suburbs of Luoyang, there were still people digging a well for next year!"
Those who are truly loyal to Luoyang are not afraid of the change of ownership of Luoyang. This is completely different from the time when Dong Zhuo controlled the government of Luoyang!
They just want to continue to take steady steps forward. Even if the weather next year still seems like a test for them, as long as they have hope in their hearts, they can continue to move forward.
These minor changes are by no means just a numerical advantage between the two armies, but have long formed an astonishing sweeping trend. Just like the change of times that Liu Xie felt in Dingzhongguan, it will always be completely revealed by someone at the peak of accumulation, and turn into a torrent that sweeps away the rotten bones and dust of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years.
Liu Xie's hand holding the imperial seal trembled for a moment. When he spoke each word, he seemed to be struggling with the surname he had, but he continued speaking without stopping:
"Your Majesty is willing to resign, but I have no intention of taking over. I would like to ask you, do you want to hand over the Han Dynasty to my brother who can only be controlled by Yuan Benchu, or to a member of the Han royal family who appeared out of nowhere?"
"It is hard to say whether the other party is capable of governing the country. If this act of abandoning the donkey after it has done its work happens again, how can you guarantee that the Han Dynasty can still enjoy peace, that the Han people under the rule of the Han Dynasty will not have to live in humiliation, that the borders will not be invaded by the barbarians again, and that there will be someone who can take the lead and resolve the natural disaster smoothly when it is imminent!"
Only Qiao Yan!
Then why can't we entrust the foundation of the Han Dynasty to a reliable person like Qiao Yan, just like the succession of generations like Yao, Shun and Yu?
Gender, age, and identity are never a problem in the face of real achievements!
Liu Xie actually had something else he wanted to say, but it was really inappropriate for him to say it from the perspective of a member of the Han royal family. Liu Yu accused himself of wrongdoing and presented the imperial seal to the emperor simply because he wanted to hand over the power of the world to capable people while still ensuring that the Han Dynasty would have enough dignity.
So he won't say -
Didn’t Empress Dowager Hexi, who single-handedly supported the Han Dynasty through more than ten years of disaster, set an example for the world?
All the natural disasters over the past ten years were smoothly overcome under the leadership of Deng Sui. However, when the emperor whom she had supported grew up, he began to plot to seize the power in her hands, and even carried out a reckoning with the Deng family after her death.
This was the Empress of the Han Dynasty, a relative who had such close ties with the royal family. She clearly did not act overbearingly and made such contributions to the people's livelihood and even to the cause of expanding the territory of the Han Dynasty, but it was all the result of the death of the leader and the demise of the government.
In the face of such a precedent, why do they think that relying on the power granted to Qiao Yan by Emperor Ling of Han, she can work like a slave for the Han Dynasty for so many years, and even if she is really targeted and purged again under the command of the new emperor, she can only swallow her anger and become a sacrifice?
There is no such thing in this world!
Even if Qiao Yan has such a spirit of sacrifice, the people of this world will never allow such a thing to happen!
Look at Luoyang today. Because of the events of Liu Yang and Wang Yun who have been suppressed, many of the people who have only worked under the Grand Marshal for two years want to rush to Chang'an to seek justice for her. They have also transformed this indignation into motivation to deal with the attacks of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. When there are really earth-shaking changes, why should they still be allowed to consider themselves Han people?
Only when the Han Dynasty has the support of the people can it maintain its rule over the world...
If Luoyang is like this, what about Chang'an? What about Bingzhou, which has been managed by Qiao Yan for ten years? What about Liangzhou, where she had just ended a century of Qiang rebellion? What about those lands that are spreading far and wide and bowing to the emperor?
Liu Xie's eyes were piercing, and he had an aura that showed he had no intention of backing down. He asked loudly, "I want to entrust this imperial seal to the Grand Marshal. What's wrong with that?"
"Your Majesty... Lord Dong!" Huang Wan spoke quickly.
He used to be a minister under Liu Xie in Chang'an, but at this moment he didn't know what to call Liu Xie. He even almost shouted "Your Majesty", but quickly changed his words.
"All you said can still be done if the Grand Marshal is a minister of the Han Dynasty. The return of the imperial seal representing the emperor's orthodoxy to the Han Dynasty is a sign that the Han Dynasty can still be restored. What we lack now is just to take down the fake dynasty in Yecheng. After the storm in Chang'an has passed, we can immediately march eastward."
"Why do you have to have such an idea?"
Huang Wan was also very clear that every word Liu Xie said was correct. If it weren't for the step-by-step reforms made by Qiao Yan, they, the old ministers, would never have been able to sit comfortably in the court, see the changes in numbers mentioned by Liu Xie, and compare them with the various performances of the eastern court to come up with an answer that they could win.
But making Qiao Yan the ruler of the world is completely different from making her the first person under the emperor, the Grand Marshal who "upholds integrity and takes advantage of friendship to ensure the safety of the country."
"Jade Seal?" Liu Xie looked at the seal in his hand. It was not difficult to understand why Huang Wan thought it was a good omen for the revival of the Han Dynasty.
The four hundred years seemed to be engraved in the corners of the seal, and welcoming it back at this moment was a great joy for the court in Chang'an.
But Liu Xie knew very well that if he could see such a road, he could entrust this item to someone else to deliver it here, instead of personally escorting it and walking step by step from the streets of Chang'an to this place where royal power was concentrated.
Under Huang Wan's terrified gaze, Liu Xie suddenly raised the jade seal in his hand and the box outside it high above his head.
Even though he had helped his adoptive father chop wood and fish over the past few years and had developed strong muscles in his arms, everyone subconsciously held their breath when he made this move, fearing that Liu Xie would drop the jade seal on the ground in a moment of excitement or by accident.
Liu Xie looked around, not a single eye was away from him or the thing in his hand, and then he looked back at Huang Wan's face, "Who told you that you can do whatever you want with this jade seal and put it back on the throne of the Han Dynasty?"
"When I read the Records of the Grand Historian written by Taishigong, I was impressed by Lin Xiangru's sentence, 'Now both the head and the jade are shattered on the pillar.' If you dare to stop me today, I will not dare to hold this imperial seal in my hand and hit it against the pillar to imitate his righteousness and bravery."
"Everyone in Chang'an knows that I brought the imperial seal here under the protection of the emperor's attendants. If the seal is broken today, the blame will not be on me who came from Luoyang, but on all of you!"
That’s right...it was indeed as Liu Xie said, when the jade seal was still in his hands, the power to deal with the matter had not yet been transferred to the hands of the Han Dynasty.
It would have been fine if the jade seal had never been found. However, if such a scene of the former emperor banging his head against the pillar suddenly occurred in the city of Chang'an which had just experienced a storm, and the jade seal was lost again, the impact would definitely not be inferior to the one planned by Liu Yang and Wang Yun before.
But why is he doing this?
Huang Wan knew that she couldn't provoke Liu Xie at this moment, so she just looked at him as if he would take action at the next moment, and asked in a sad tone: "Lord Dong, are you sure that we will accept such a threat?"
What made Huang Wan realize that the situation seemed to be heading in a direction that was completely unstoppable was not just Liu Xie's intention to emulate Lin Xiangru's return of the jade intact to Zhao State, but also the fact that when he looked at Liu Yu, hoping that he could give Liu Xie some words of advice from the perspective of the emperor and clan elder, he only saw a hint of desire on his face.
But before Huang Wan could truly understand Liu Yu's attitude, he heard Liu Xie speak again.
"No, I'm not threatening you." The young man was holding the imperial seal in his hand, and it looked like he was going to destroy it along with the rest of the country. However, there was a calmness in his tone that was difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
If such a person becomes the emperor, he may be able to save the country from the turbulent waves.
But, as Liu Xie said, he no longer regarded himself as a superior, but regarded himself as one of the millions of people in the world.
He was Bian He of Chu, who would rather endure the pain of short legs than surrender the beautiful jade, rather than Ziying who surrendered to Liu Bang with the jade seal and military token.
Lu Zhi, who had just arrived here, heard the answer given by Liu Xie, "I just want you to follow me and listen to the thoughts of the people of Chang'an!"
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